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Monday, January 11, 2010

I wish I only ever had nice things to say about the local clothing stores in Austin. And I usually have nothing but love for the local designers. However, occasionally a bad review must be written. Monica Ree is the most recent boutique to open up in our casually chic town. This dress boutique has only been open for about month and I went to check it out today in the Triangle at 47th and North Lamar. If you want to go to this store I suggest you do it soon because truthfully I don't think it will last long. And make sure you don't go on Sunday because they are closed (ugh).

The cool thing about Monica Ree is that all the dresses in the store are designed by Monica Ree herself. It's impressive that a local designer was able to open up her own store with almost everything inside being her own designs. The unfortunate thing is that this UT graduate designer doesn't have much taste. The store itself lacked individuality and the clothes inside lacked style. I really couldn't find a single dress that I would want to wear. The fabric choices were odd. Several pieces were made with fabric that appeared cheap. Some of the dresses look like things you might find at Goodwill that are not old enough to be vintage and cool, but just old enough to be out of style and tacky.

On top of the bad clothes, I have to say that Monica Ree herself does not have the drive and personality to make it in the fashion business. Having worked in customer service myself, I know that when a customer comes in with lots of questions and a talkative personality, you should embrace it and can almost always make a sale out of it. I came in genuinely wanting to know more about the clothes and the store, but the girl who was working there did not want anything to do with me. She kept turning the music up louder after i would ask a question. She clearly didn't want to talk to me. I finally found out that she was in fact Monica Ree herself.

I guess Monica Ree feels that her dresses and her store speak loud enough for themselves that she doesn't need to discuss them. Too bad she is wrong.